Pinar del Rio.- The provincial appellate tribunal on Jan. 24 refused to
allow Victor Rolando Arroyo to prove that he was collecting toys so as to
give them to local poor children for Christmas. As Cuba Free Press reported
earlier, Arroyoo, well known as a dissident, had been sentenced to six
months in prison on charges of "hoarding" toys. He bought the toys at a
local store with donated money.

The prosecutor said Rolando bought the toys with the intention of selling
them later at an exorbitant price and asked for a sentence of one year. The
defense tried to prove Rolando's intention was to give the toys away by
introducing witnesses whose children had received toys as gifts from
Rolando.

The appeals tribunal ratified the sentence and Rolando was handcuffed and
transferred to the provincial prison.

Dissidents contend that the government intended to punish Arroyo
irrespective of his guilt or innocence, noting that the prosecutor in this
case was the same one who had handled charges against another dissident,
named Gustavo Elias, and had acquired notoriety in cases involving pacifist
dissidents.

In this case, despite attempts by agents of the Office of State Security and
the Rapid Response Brigades to occupy all seats at the courtroom, some
dissidents managed to get seats and show their support for him when Rolando
had his appeal rejected.